Theme Of Exile In The Poisonwood Bible

Exile can be a very horrifying yet intriguing experience for any person, but for a person to have to go through this trauma at such an important and developmental time in their life is unbelievable. A Palestinian American literary theorist and cultural critic named Edward Said claims that exile can not only become “a potent, even enriching” experience, but also an
“unhealable rift” in their life. Although these statements contradict each other, they are both accurate and go hand in hand together to equal something special in this novel. One character in
The Poisonwood Bible that is put through this exile, transforms, and becomes like a new person due to the adaptations they endure in their life is Leah Price. Leah Price faces exile from not

It’s nonsense for you to hunt with the men. You’re only causing trouble, and I forbid it”
(Kingsolver 339).
Exile comes in many different forms, and Leah gets to experience all of them first hand.
The exile does not just stop with her father, but it continues with her family as well. Her own sister views Leah as a bother in the household, “Maybe I shouldn’t say so but it’s true: Leah is the cause of all our problems. It goes back to when she and Father commenced World War Three at our house. What a crazy mixed-up scene”(Kingsolver 335). This shows the rift coming into the rest of Leah Price’s family. Rachel, Leah’s older sister, also believes that Leah is the main problem of the family, even though she doesn’t want to admit it. This gives insight on how some of the main characters are viewed, “Critics have faulted Kingsolver's development of characters, finding Nathan and Rachel simply ‘bad,’ and Leah, Anatole, and Brother Fowles simply ‘good’”
(Strehle 4). Leah is being singled out by her whole family; not just her strict, Bible carrying
Reaves 3 father. Nathan and Rachel seem to be the main two people that are against Leah and it is clearly visible in the novel as Rachel says “Ruth May peed in her pants just because Father coughed

For all these months
I’d imagined malaria as a stealthy, secret enemy, but now that it was fully upon me it was as real as anything. I could feel the poison move through my bloodstream like thick, tainted honey”
(Kingsolver 394), she begins a new chapter of her life with Anatole. Later in the novel, Leah and
Anatole get married and have four different children. Her Congolese lifestyle will continue to have a lasting effect on her outlook of life. This outlook is shown in her life once she is becomes an adult. “optimistic vision of the future of the Congo remains prominent in the novel, embodied in Leah and Anatole-who believe in his message and carry it forward” (Demory 24). The skills that she has developed during the exile in her teenage years, have groomed her to become the woman she has grown into.
Reaves 5
Exile can be an intimidating, yet an amusing experience for any type of person, but for a person to have to go through this trauma at such an important and developmental age in their life is really quite unbelievable. The “potent, even enriching” experience, but also an “unhealable rift” can lead to either a destructive or very fruitful life. Although these statements